Canada won a historic — and surprise — bronze medal in mixed team ski jumping at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games on Monday.
Alexandria Loutitt, Matthew Soukup, Abigail Strate and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes captured the medal in the first-ever mixed team event at an Olympic Games.
Slovenia won the gold medal with 1001.5 total points, while the Russian Olympic Committee took silver with 890.3 points. Canada garnered 844.6 points.
The Canadians, who were in no way considered medal contenders, took advantage of an opportunity when top teams like world champion Germany were disqualified before the final.
Boyd-Clowes was last to jump for Team Canada, and travelled 101.5 metres to score 128.1 points, to secure Canada a podium finish. The bronze is Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in ski jumping.
WATCH | Historic bronze medal ‘means everything’ to Canadian ski jumpers:
Historic bronze medal ‘means everything’ to Canadian ski jumpers
3 hours agoDuration3:56Alexandria Loutitt and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes join Andi Petrillo to discuss Canada’s first-ever medal in ski jumping. 3:56
Boyd-Clowes said Monday the team’s move to Slovenia has paid off.
“We’ve had a lot of help. We’ve moved over to Slovenia, and we’ve had so many Slovenian coaches helping us, working with the American team, doing anything we can to keep going, and it brought us here,” he told CBC’s Andi Petrillo. “So, forever grateful.”
Training with Europeans helpful
The medal was also consolation for Loutitt, 18, who was disqualified after her first jump in Saturday’s individual women’s event after weighing in 300 grams too light.
After the team’s win, Loutitt also said training alongside her European counterparts has helped her improve.
“I definitely feel like it’s pushed me to not just be a better athlete on the hill, but taking everything more seriously in the sense of sport,” she said. “You know, watching how these girls live, they dedicate their lives to sport, and I decided that I was going to do the same.”
WATCH | Full replay of the mixed team ski jumping competition:
Things to look forward to:
This March at Whistler Olympic Park you will have the chance to see Alexandria & Abigail in person to congratulate them on their historic achievement at the World Juniors!
